BARRE — Today’s downtown open house will culminate in the first-ever fireworks display launched from inside the city. The pyrotechnics will originate at the front lawn of the Vermont History Center on Washington Street.

The festivities start at 1 p.m. with a ribbon cutting for the new sidewalks on the City Hall Park end of North Main Street. At 1:30 p.m., the Barre Congregational Church Bell Choir will put on a concert at Studio Place Arts followed by a concert preview by the Barre-Tones.

There will be horse-drawn wagon rides from 1 to 4 p.m. in front of Ellie and Shirl’s Simply Delicious on Depot Square. A downtown cash mob and scavenger hunt will start at City Hall Park at 2 p.m. Children can visit with Santa Claus at Last Time Around Antiques from 1 to 4 p.m.

The events lead up to a holiday parade starting at the Barre Auditorium at 5:15 p.m. and finishing at City Hall Park around 5:45 p.m., followed by a tree lighting by Santa and the fireworks.